Army kills 150 rebels in heavy fighting

Environmental groups on Thursday confirmed heavy fighting in northwestern Rwanda and said one endangered mountain gorilla was killed and eaten by desperate Rwandan militiamen as they crossed from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into Rwanda. In a statement sent to IRIN, the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) said fighting in the border area between the two countries had intensified over the past two weeks, with militia groups moving through the Virunga forest into Rwanda. According to the statement, recent fighting between the Rwandan army and the militias had resulted in at least 400 militiamen captured and an unspecified number of dead. “Two of the militia captives admitted to the park authorities in Rwanda that they had killed one gorilla, and eaten it for food,” the statement said. Rwandan army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Bosco Kazura told IRIN on Thursday the Interahamwe militiamen and ex-FAR (former Rwandan army) soldiers were not “targeting” the gorillas. He described the incident as “an exception”. “It was most likely because they [rebels] were encircled by the army and they needed food,” he said. According to Kazura, the Rwandan army killed 150 rebels and captured 32 in “fierce battles” with the Interahamwe and ex-FAR on Tuesday and Wednesday. He said the rebels - whose numbers ranged between 300 to 400 - moved into the Cyanzarwe district of Gisenyi province from their hideouts in the DRC.
[For full report, see separate IRIN item of 7 June headlined “RWANDA:
Heavy fighting in northwest as militiamen kill gorilla”]